Fawzia Koofi is a politician and women’s rights activist based in Afganistan. She is Afghanistan’s first women Deputy Speaker in Parliament and member of the team of negotiators engaging the Taliban in talks in Doha. Koofi is currently serving as a Member of Parliament in Kabul. She has been one of the favourite names among the nominees for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Early Life and Career

Koofi, 45, was born in 1975 in Badakhshan, Afghanistan. The day Koofi was born, she was left out to die in the sun. She was the only girl to be educated in her family.

Initially in her life, Koofi wanted to become a physician, but ended studying political science. She went on to become a member of UNICEF. Having worked closely with vulnerable groups such as Internally Displaced People (IDP) and marginalized women and children, she even served as a child protection officer for the organization from 2002 to 2004.

The onset of Koofi’s career began after the fall of Taliban, way back in 2001. With her “Back to School” campaign, she became an important figure in promoting the right to education of girls in her country.

Koofi’s Activism

Koofi worked as a Child Protection Officer to protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse with UNICEF from 2002 to 2004. In her parliamentary tenure, she has primarily worked focusing on women’s rights. Koofi, in 2009, she drafted the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) legislation. Although the it was blocked by the conservationist parliamentarians in 2013, the law was successfully implemented in 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Court cases are being decided on the basis of thus law there.

The key women’s initiatives Koofi has undertaken and championed as an MP can be briefed under the following:
The improvement of the conditions of women living in the Afghan prisons;
The establishment of a commission that would combat violence issues against children, especially sexual violence;
The amendment of the Shia personal status law.

Koofi authored her memoir The Favored Daughter: One Woman’s Fight to Lead Afghanistan into the Future, in form of narrations about her life told through letters written to her daughters.

Koofi is quite vocal about her criticism towards Taliban rule, and the women’s issues the former entails. Her father and brother were killed during the Taliban regime of 1996-2001. She also lost her husband due to a disease he contracted during one of his imprisonment by the Taliban.

Koofi who has survived at least two assassination attempts. One of them was in March 8, 2010, near the town of Tora Bora.The other was just two months ago before talks began, on 14 August, 2020.

In 2009, she was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on 9th October, 2020.